Hebrews’ Hall of Great Faith – Hebrews 11
Illustration:Definition of faith: Hebrews 11:1. "What is faith, unless it is to believe what you cannot see." (Augustine)
Faith is derived from the Word of God: Romans 10:17
Faith’s demand: Hebrews 11:6
Faith’s design: 2 Corinthians 5:7
The dualism of faith: Hebrews 4:2
Faith’s duty: Romans 1:17--live by it.
Richard Mayhue, Divine Healing Today, Moody
1.Aim: To lead the people to an understanding of how great faith overcomes all problems.
2. Explanation of the Aim: Jesus said, “All things are possible for those who believe.” (Mark 9:23)
The eleventh chapter of Hebrews is a collection of great people of faith who conquered over difficulties with God’s power.
Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. God commends people who grow strong in faith being fully persuaded that what He promises will be fulfilled with His sovereign power.
The encouraging list of people whose faith allowed them overcome any adversity is a testimony to how we can do the same. John wrote, “Everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.” (I John 5:4,5)
The maturity of our faith will directly determine the kinds of hardships we will be able to overcome.
3. The Bible Story – The writer of Hebrews chronicles an example of the heroes of the faith in this inspiring eleventh chapter. It does not contain all of the past demonstrations of faith, but it encourages us to imitate the faith of people like Abraham, Noah, and Moses.
Later in reflecting on such great lifestyles of faith, the same writer gives us an exhortation that says, “Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.” (Heb. 13:7)
4. Learn to follow the faith of great leaders who exhibit the qualities of uncompromising belief in God and His promises as those seen in Hebrews chapter 11. Even though not all heroes of the faith immediately experienced triumph over their difficult circumstances, God’s greater purposes were fulfilled through their trust and obedience to Him.
5. Consider what great people of faith have in common.
Why did God commend the faith of Abraham, Noah and Moses in this passage.
Ask the people how the early missionaries who came to Africa to preach the gospel exhibited great faith.
Do you know of anyone in your community that they would say has “great faith in God and His promises”.
6. The BIBLE STORY seeks to teach the people that the godly will suffer persecution, but through faith in Christ’s power and truth we can overcome any difficulty.
7. What is The MEANING FOR OUR LIVES in this passage? Are you allowing yourself to make choices that are based on faith?
Do you see how you can believe God to give them the power to replace worry with faith, anger with love, fear with assurance, loneliness with friendliness; confusion with direction; hostility with peace and fear of death with assurance of salvation through Christ.
7. Consider what great people of faith have in common. Herre are some examples of what are some of the qualities of a person with great faith? (Courage, knowledge of God’s attributes, intimate communications with the Lord in prayer, kingdom priority values, humility, dependence on God for everything, discipline to spend quality time in studying and meditating on Biblical principles and verses)
8. Faith is the eye of the soul because it looks upon the great truths of God and see them as reality. Just as our physical eye sees people, place and things, so our spiritual eyes fo faith allows us to realize the reality of God’s promises.
9. The more mature we are in faith the clearer we are able to realize God’s will for our life. Faith does not doubt what God shows us in the light when dark time come to us.
10. Faith finds expression in the calamities of life because it knows that God is able to work all things together for good. Noah trusted that God would use the flood for His higher purposes even though many had to suffer on the earth. While Noah waited for God to carry out His plans, he endured terrible criticism, mocking and misunderstanding from the local community. We too can believe that God will carry out His higher purposes in our lives regardless of the adverse circumstances we might be facing. Faith accepts what God allows to come into our lives and sees everything as an opportunity from the Sovereign Lord of All.
11. Faith expresses itself in the commonplace areas of life. How we believe God should influence how we relate to all people from the greatest to the least. Faith knows that there is a Spirit led way for doing and relating to everyone.
The Father of faith, Abraham did not naturally want to leave his home in Haran and go to a strange land, but he obeyed because of His faith in God. Abraham knew that great faith would help him focus all his heart, soul, strength and mind on God’s power rather than on his limited abilities. Abraham did not waver in unbelief but learned how to grow strong in faith because he was convinced that God had the power to give him a son at ninety years of age. The Father of faith inspires us to not dwell on the problems of this earth, but to fix our hope solidly on God’s promises. When a person intimately knows God their faith will help them turn seeming tragedies in to triumphal results.
12. Moses learned that the quality of his faith would allow him to lead the people of Israel across the Red Sea and be delivered from their oppressors. Even though human logic told Moses to move directly to Canaan, he listened to God and marched toward the Red Sea. It was a strange command to a rational thinker like Moses, but he trusted and obeyed God’s directives more than his own insights. Faith always triumphs over fear. When God delivered Moses it became clear why God’s wisdom is greater than human reasoning. The more mature your faith, the greater risks you will be able to take in the name of Jesus Christ. Jesus once told a sick woman, “According to your faith, be it done to you.” (Matt. 9:27-30)
God challenges us to have great faith that allows us to bring a great quantity of people to know Christ and develops the qualities of Christ likeness in all aspects of our lives. People who have small faith are never able to appropriate the great promise that Jesus gave about great faith where He said, “Anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.” (John 14:12,13)
13. Sarah is also selected to be in the hall of faith because she overcame her momentary lapse of faith and trusted God to give her a son at nearly 90 years of age. Sarah teaches us that one mistake does not have to disqualify us from being used of God. The mother of Isaac teaches us that great faith make room for big surprises and does not doubt that God can work miracles through us.
Sarah learned to believe that God could even use a woman well past the age of normal child-birth. Faith helps us see God using us in ways that are beyond the boundary of what other people think is normal. Faith is a practical power demonstrated in extraordinary ways.
Trust in God is an abiding force that makes the character and promises of God real in our lifestyle. Sarah learned that faith plugs us in to an all sufficient grace that bears up under any difficulty, doubt, or detour. Faith works through perplexing times to help us become better rather than bitter people.
14. The chapter concludes by commending many martyrs of the faith for their unswerving confidence that God could use them even in death. Great faith allows many people to undergo suffering because they loved truth more than life itself. They believed in a better resurrection. May God grant us such mature faith by enlightening the eyes of our heart to:
1). Know what is the great hope of our calling
2). Understand the exceeding riches we have as we trust and obey God
3). What great power is unleashed in us who trust God in every way for His promises to be fulfilled.
Conclusion: Make choices that are based on faith. Help people to see how they can believe God to give them the power to replace worry with faith, anger with love, fear with assurance, loneliness with friendliness; confusion with direction; hostility with peace and fear of death with assurance of salvation through Christ.
Pray a prayer with one friend that is an expression of a faith that trusts God to not be overcome with evil, but to overcome evil with good. Help them hear what a prayer of faith sounds like as you write a prayer of faith on the overhead based on such promises as Romans 4:20,21; Phil. 4:12,13, Phil. 4:19, Phil. 4:6-8, Psa. 37:3-7, Josh 1:8,9, James 1:2-5.
Response:
Song: Trust on, trust on, believer. Though long the conflict be. You shall prove victorious. Your God shall fight for thee. Trust on. Trust on! Though the night and drear; Trust on. Trust on. The morning dawn is near.
Prayer: Trust the Lord to give you the strength, wisdom and graceful enabling to overcome any problems for the sake of Christ’s good reputation in your life.
At Home: Ask your family to share one verse that they rely on to energize their faith.
Conclusion:To live by faith is to live joyfully, to live with assurance, untroubled by doubts and with complete confidence in all we have to do and suffer at each moment by the will of God. We must realize that it is in order to stimulate and sustain this faith that God allows the soul to be buffeted and swept away by the raging torrent of so much distress, so many troubles, so much embarrassment and weakness, and so many setbacks. For it is essential to have faith to find God behind all this.
Jean-Pierre de Caussade, 1675-1751, in Discipleship Journal, issue 40.
